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Electric Guitar/Amp Recommendation Help

Blogs > zulu_nation8
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
May 21 2010 18:28 GMT
#1
Hi I need help for picking out my first guitar. I am a complete beginner. I am not looking to play metal or blues, just "standard" rock music. I will not play live or practice in a big space. My budget is around $400-$500 for guitar and amp combined. My plan as of now is to get a used Squire standard Stratocaster from e-bay. I'm not sure about the amp or accessories. What should I look for in purchasing the guitar/amp? What other accessories will I need? Oh and I'm also looking for a headphone amp, something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Vox-amPlug-Guitar-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B000ZMYRJS

Thanks for any advice.

*
tYsopz
Profile Joined July 2009
Norway215 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-21 18:47:12
May 21 2010 18:41 GMT
#2
First of all, buy used! Especially lower-end guitars and amps you can get for a fraction of the new price. If you decided to sell it again, you'll have most of your money back.

To be honest, I would not buy a cheaper guitar than a gibson LP standard, but you won't really find any below 700USD, so I guess that is out of the question. If I could go 6 years back in time and give myself advice, it would be to buy a proper tube amp and a good guitar and not buy something cheap that I ended up replacing half a year later.

Consider putting 1400USD into a good used amp + guitar if you can afford it, and just sell it again if playing the guitar isn't for you. Though if you haven't played much guitar at all, it might be much. All depends on your economy. If you are very low level, chances are that you won't really feel much difference between an el cheapo setup and a custom shop LP through a mesa boogie lonestar.

Also, if you are completely clueless, you should have someone acompany you buying used. Even though it is not too common, people sometimes sell fake guitars. (usually fenders)
"I'm going to send them to a far far distant place called Disneyland. Safe and sound at their own convenience, at the fastest and cheapest rate." - Lee Sung Eun
HeavOnEarth
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States7087 Posts
May 21 2010 18:46 GMT
#3
if its your first guitar start with a cheap acoustic and get ur chops down, saves money on a rather worthless electric guitar/amp you'll never use again
"come korea next time... FXO house... 10 korean, 10 korean"
condoriano
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States826 Posts
May 21 2010 18:48 GMT
#4
This is an insane guitar for this kind of money, check it out:

esp m401

It is a metal guitar but you can get a lot out of it, depends on what kind of sound you are looking for. Definitely a quality product.
Ridentem dicere verum quid vetat?
tYsopz
Profile Joined July 2009
Norway215 Posts
May 21 2010 18:48 GMT
#5
HeavOnEarth is probably right, if you are a complete noob, start with an cheap acoustic with nylon strings and upgrade if it's meant to be. Nylon guitars are pretty straight forward, you can get OKish nylon stringers for very cheap, just test it and preferably have someone with some experience help you out.
"I'm going to send them to a far far distant place called Disneyland. Safe and sound at their own convenience, at the fastest and cheapest rate." - Lee Sung Eun
Holgerius
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Sweden16951 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-21 18:50:49
May 21 2010 18:49 GMT
#6
If you're gonna get an electric guitar, get an Epiphone Les Paul. Almost as good as the real deal for a mere fraction of the price.

If you intend to play rock stuff, I really wouldn't buy an acoustic guitar if I were you.
I believe in the almighty Grötslev! -- I am never serious and you should never believe a thing I say. Including the previous sentence.
Sewi
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Germany1697 Posts
May 21 2010 18:52 GMT
#7
I wouldnt recommend the accoustic if you want to play rock music. Its a completly different feeling when you play.
If you are a total beginner, for 400 you cant buy something really great.
I would say: Find someone in your area (from a band you know or something) and go to a music-shop with him. Play some cheap guitars and amps and let him play them too. With some experience of a friend you can find something worth buying for 400-500
"Well, things were going ok until he lost all his stuff" - Tasteless, 17.02.2016
condoriano
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States826 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-21 18:54:59
May 21 2010 18:52 GMT
#8
On May 22 2010 03:48 tYsopz wrote:
HeavOnEarth is probably right, if you are a complete noob, start with an cheap acoustic with nylon strings and upgrade if it's meant to be. Nylon guitars are pretty straight forward, you can get OKish nylon stringers for very cheap, just test it and preferably have someone with some experience help you out.


I'm not too sure about nylon strings, imo it will take longer later on getting used to everything else.

On May 22 2010 03:52 Sewi wrote:
I wouldnt recommend the accoustic if you want to play rock music. Its a completly different feeling when you play.
If you are a total beginner, for 400 you cant buy something really great.
I would say: Find someone in your area (from a band you know or something) and go to a music-shop with him. Play some cheap guitars and amps and let him play them too. With some experience of a friend you can find something worth buying for 400-500


Music shops usually sell overpriced shit, it's better to buy online if you know what you are looking for.
Ridentem dicere verum quid vetat?
green.at
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Austria1459 Posts
May 21 2010 18:53 GMT
#9
Pls dont buy a squire guitar ... i know enough people who bought one, and none of them was happy in the long run. And most "mini-amps" are not worth the money

Make sure you can actually hold the guitar you want to buy in your hands (aka don't buy online) and see how it feels (weight etc.)
Also better to go for a more expensive guitar and cut back on the amp It's more fun to play with a better guitar, and just for practice the amp doesnt really matter. (and at home you cant max it anyways)



Inputting special characters into chat should no longer cause the game to crash.
tYsopz
Profile Joined July 2009
Norway215 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-21 19:11:12
May 21 2010 18:55 GMT
#10
If you have decided to go for an electric and not acoustic, go for a fender blues junior for your amp. It is relativly cheap, easy to come by used and a great tube amp!

I'm actually thinking of getting one myself even though I have two more expensive amps. You will be slightly above your budget, but it is really a much better amp than just about anything you can get for the same price in my opinion, and it blows all cheap transistor & valvestate amps out of the water.

EDIT:
I have to agree with above poster, there is really a big difference between a low-end guitar and a good LP standard/ american strat. BUT since your budget is so low, for the money, it is better to pick up a more expensive amp, since you will want to spend a lot more on the guitar in the long run either way, and you wont really have to replace the blues junior amp, it is good enough for SRV. I have very little experience with cheap guitars, but my impression is that squires are playable even though they sound like shit. I mean, Snowy White plays a squire, and he's among the best guitarists alive. (though he replaced all the hardware)

Also, as Sewi said, the amp makes most of the sound, a bad amp wil make any guitar sound like crap. It is however important that the guitar is easy to play, but my impression is that cheap guitars has come a long way in playability.

ALSO, get a tuner! It doesn't matter if you have the best gear in the world if you are out of tune, and your ear won't be able to put the guitar in tune.There are also computer programs that will do the job. Do note though that you should also practice tuning your guitar by ear, but you can't start out like it, it takes a long time to be able to tune properly by ear. (To be honest I don't tune properly by ear myself, and that is because I bought a pedal-tuner from day 1, but I would still recommend getting one, just force yourself to tune by ear first else you'll end up like me.)
"I'm going to send them to a far far distant place called Disneyland. Safe and sound at their own convenience, at the fastest and cheapest rate." - Lee Sung Eun
Sewi
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Germany1697 Posts
May 21 2010 18:58 GMT
#11


Music shops usually sell overpriced shit, it's better to buy online if you know what you are looking for.


I would go to a shop anyways. If you have no experience you should play the guitar you want to buy. Otherwise you may buy something really bad and overpriced online, so no difference.
The shops I go to have the exact same prices as the online dealers have. Of course I am not talking about the small shops with 3 gits and 2 amps. They have higher prices but the bigger shops nowadays have the same prices as the online stores.

If you meant to buy something used.... hmm I dont know. I would not buy my first guitar on ebay for example. No comparison between guitars. Without experience you just dont know what you should buy..
"Well, things were going ok until he lost all his stuff" - Tasteless, 17.02.2016
Caller
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Poland8075 Posts
May 21 2010 19:00 GMT
#12
im actually looking for a guitar too

not to hijack the thread, but I was also looking to pick up a stratocaster. I found a used MIJ and a MIA strat for decent prices and I was wondering if people would know if its worth the extra to get those, or if it's better to just save the money for the amp.
Watch me fail at Paradox: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=397564
Sewi
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Germany1697 Posts
May 21 2010 19:02 GMT
#13
In general, if you are a beginner, buy a cheaper guitar and a better amp. The amp creates more of the sound, especially when you are not too gosu and "just want to learn".
"Well, things were going ok until he lost all his stuff" - Tasteless, 17.02.2016
HwangjaeTerran
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Finland5967 Posts
May 21 2010 19:03 GMT
#14
Old Peaveys / Ibanez IMO

Great value
https://steamcommunity.com/id/*tlusernamehere*/
Reuental
Profile Joined July 2009
United States457 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-21 19:10:30
May 21 2010 19:09 GMT
#15
On May 22 2010 04:02 Sewi wrote:
In general, if you are a beginner, buy a cheaper guitar and a better amp. The amp creates more of the sound, especially when you are not too gosu and "just want to learn".


This guy nailed it on the head. Go with a Roland Micro Cube (A great practice amp no matter how good you are). Buy a cheap guitar and save your money because you will be wanting to get a lot of stuff if you actually get into it.

EDIT: Buy a tuner for the love of GOD. Its so helpful and almost necessary if your a newbie.
I'm a Crab made of men.
SuperJongMan
Profile Blog Joined March 2003
Jamaica11586 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-21 19:28:03
May 21 2010 19:24 GMT
#16
Yamaha Pacifica? 200 bucks-ish and known to be a good for newbs. Then add in about 110 or so for an amp, strap, tuner,. Then uh.. Yeah dude, spend the 100 at 20 days of Denny's and stay fed. =).

I mean, spend 100 or so on a guitar imo. You could get started for so much less than 400-500. Stay FED BLY! STAY FED!
POWER OVERWHELMING ! ! ! KRUU~ KRUU~
Sewi
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Germany1697 Posts
May 21 2010 19:26 GMT
#17
On May 22 2010 04:09 Crabman123 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 22 2010 04:02 Sewi wrote:
In general, if you are a beginner, buy a cheaper guitar and a better amp. The amp creates more of the sound, especially when you are not too gosu and "just want to learn".


This guy nailed it on the head. Go with a Roland Micro Cube (A great practice amp no matter how good you are). Buy a cheap guitar and save your money because you will be wanting to get a lot of stuff if you actually get into it.

EDIT: Buy a tuner for the love of GOD. Its so helpful and almost necessary if your a newbie.


+1 for the tuner
1+ for the micro cube


Do not buy something like a Marshall MGDFX !!!!!!!!!!! Really, dont do it!!! They are shit compared to what marshalls sound like. Another good and cheap amp would be a Marshall valvestate combo or a Fender RocPro 700 Bot to get used for around 100- 150
"Well, things were going ok until he lost all his stuff" - Tasteless, 17.02.2016
Piy
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Scotland3152 Posts
May 21 2010 19:32 GMT
#18
If you're a newbie theres actually nothing wrong with playing an absolute piece of shit guitar, it'll have bad action and be annoying to keep in tune, but you'll actually get better faster and your fingers will harden faster.
My. Copy. Is. Here.
Kyuukyuu
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Canada6263 Posts
May 21 2010 19:35 GMT
#19
I got some crappy Ibanez beginner kit thingie a few months ago for like $250 total and it's been fine as far as learning to play goes.
Genjimaru
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Canada515 Posts
May 21 2010 19:43 GMT
#20
I think a squire is a good choice for a beginner. I wasted a bunch of money on a nice one and ended up giving up on it. That was when I was younger though.

I would really like to try learning guitar again.
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